Already favored for application-level measurement and problem-solving, SLA's are moving toward more active, fix-it roles even as their target market sometimes fails to grasp all their current uses.

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SLA (service level agreement) tools are now moving from passive monitoring
technology to "intelligent" products geared to helping network managers and
outsourcers do application-level measurement and problem-solving. When,
though, will the more fine-grained and "proactive" features get more
deployment, particularly among service providers?

"SLAs have been around for a long time on the voice side. Now we're seeing
them more and more on the data side, too," contends Todd Krautkremer, VP of
marketing at Packeteer, one of the top vendors in the SLA tools space.

Many service providers have turned to SLAs to quantify the QoS (quality of
service) they're supplying to customers. Network managers are doing much
the same on internal networks. In corporate settings, SLAs are typically
used to measure compliance with network policies, which, in turn, are often
intertwined with a company's business objectives.

Initially, SLA tools have typically specified network performance issues
such as uptime, latency, and packet loss, notes Jamie Warter, VP of
marketing and business development for Brix Networks, another toolmaker.

Over the past couple of years, though, vendors have been adding
capabilities in areas that include application-level analysis, automatic
testing, realtime reporting, and remedies for noncompliance, to name a few.

Apparently, some administrators - although certainly not all -- haven't
completely realized that SLAs and the associated technology are so
multifaceted. In recent focus group studies by Sage Research, network
managers rated guaranteed availability/uptime as the most important
attribute of SLAs.

Results also showed, though, that while most organizations know whether
they have SLAs with outside providers, they're often unclear about the
specific attributes that are being measured. "When we gave them a clear
blue sky, many (network managers) couldn't get beyond sheer uptime. That's
definitely a start, however," points out Sage President Kathryn Korostoff.

Meanwhile, other administrators are running full speed ahead with the newer
breed of "intelligent, proactive" SLA tools.

A.T. Kearney, for instance, has been implementing NetReality's application level
analysis technology on its frame relay network. According to Kevin
Rice, a network administrator at Kearney, reports generated by NetReality's
WiseWAN showed that e-mail was taking up nearly half of all available
bandwidth, due mainly to inter-company e-mailing of large file attachments.

Wuesthoff Health Systems in Bervard County, Florida, has been using
Packeteer's PacketShaper to to manage medical images and patient records
transmitted by more than 200 physicians and 2,000 staff members. According
to David Barnhart, Wuesthoff's director of technology, PacketShaper has
stopped traffic from "surging unpredictably" by allowing administrators to
track and manage applications at each remote location.

Most vendors in the SLA arena produce separate product line-ups for
enterprises and service providers. As one big factor behind the new
features, companies point to the rise of IP networks.

"Network managers understand that the need for service levels gets much
more complicated with outsourced IP services than with leased lines or
private circuits," Warter says. "The more innovative service providers
understand that (the backbone) is seldom where the problems are."

Adoption of newer SLA tools by service providers is now a matter of even
more debate.

NetReality has recently sold products to telcos that include Telia of
Sweden, and Bezeq in Israel, according to Ilan Raab, CEO.

In the US telecom carrier market, though, Raab doesn't predict much
improvement over the next year or two. "Those guys are hurting so much they
can't really roll out new services," Raab predicts.

Packeteer's Krautkremer takes the middle ground. "We're on the cusp of
significant change," according to Krautkremer. "On the service side, I
believe we'll see more 'active, fix-it' SLA technology."

Further research by Sage tends to suggest that the day for more capable SLA
tools is finally dawning among service providers. In one report, Sage found
that the last time enterprises chose a service provider, only 16 percent
reported that SLAs were mandatory for selection. The next time out, though,
41 percent will require SLAs.

"Given the current environment, this is not surprising. Enterprises must
now manage numerous service providers - everything from ISPs, ASPs, NSPs,
(to) other XSPs. This is becoming an increasingly tedious and time
consuming task," according to the report.

Sage researchers view SLAs as a way for customers to set their expectations
upfront, as well as to keep service providers in check. Meanwhile, SLAs can
also be useful to outsourcers, by instilling confidence in customers,
according to the analysts.

Observers are virtually unanimous that IP-based voice and video
conferencing services will act as future drivers among service providers.
Again, though, the question comes down to when.

As Brix Networks' Warter sees it, VoiP has now gained enough "critical mass"
to reach the "early majority" stage. Videoconferencing, on the other hand,
will still be mired in the "early adopter" phase for another year or so.
"Service providers don't focus on the early adopters, because they need
critical mass," Warter maintains.

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